


Life and Death

by maevelin



Category: Klaroline - Fandom, TVD - Fandom, The Vampire Diaries (TV), Vampire Diaries
Genre: AU, Angst, Comfort, Crack, Death, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Supernatural - Freeform, Tragedy, alternative universe, life - Freeform, life and death, personifications of life and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:08:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8434615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maevelin/pseuds/maevelin
Summary: Life asked Death "Why do people love me, but hate you?" Death responded "Because you are a beautiful lie, and I'm a painful truth." Caroline as the essence of Life and Klaus as the essence of Death intertwined in a game of pull and push throughout the ages.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> * Many thanks to Anastasia Dreams for her patience and for still editing my stories.
> 
> * Information: In this story Caroline is depicted as the essence of Life and Klaus as the essence of Death. They are the personifications of Life and Death either in human form or Godly essence or energies or simply as ideas and parts of creation.
> 
> The story shows snippets of their interactions through time in no specific chronological order.
> 
> * Part I/II

_**\- Life asked Death "Why do people** _ _**love me, but hate you?"** _ **Death responded** _**"Because you are a beautiful lie, and I'm a painful truth."  
** _

Caroline folded her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

Klaus smiled teasingly and almost fondly at her.

"I disagree!"

"One of history's greatest infamies," Klaus mocked pretending to agree with her outrage as he drank his vintage wine slowly and moved an ebony chess piece on the board.

"Are you making fun of me?" Caroline groused out furiously noticing the subtle irony in his jest.

Klaus tried to stifle his laughter.

"No of course not," he refused and his chest moved up and down as he tried not to laugh at the impertinence and the indignation reflected in the emerald shade of her eyes.

"It's not funny! That quote makes no sense!" Caroline insisted petulantly.

Klaus rose a challenging eyebrow at her.

"Of course you would this so sweetheart. However, it does not make it any less the truth," he provoked, enjoying her irritability and ire.

Caroline's eyes shone brighter and the fire in them fueled the Cosmos to erupt around them in a convulsing motion, breaking into stars and light.

Klaus breathed in the new life contentedly. Her fury always brought forth more for him to devour.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Caroline asked him, locking her eyes with his in an unwavering gaze that invited competition. The never-ending kind they had participated in for ages. The kind that never stopped igniting itself over and over again.

Klaus smile was wicked as he reached for her hand above the board before she could make her move. Time stilled in balance. Nothing moved. Nothing was born and nothing died.

"The most beautiful of them all," his reply was veiled in honesty and mockery. It travelled as a suggestive whisper that surged waves of temptation between them, growing even more so when Klaus turned her hand and kissed the inside of her palm gently. He breathed her in, sucking the aura she emanated hungrily. "Genuine beauty," he purred over her skin.

Caroline's cheeks blushed for a moment before she jerked her hand away; the last thing she needed was her desire to create another universal anomaly.

She gave him a decisive nod, refusing to submit to his manipulation and games and leaned back in her chair to look at the chess pieces with sharp eyes. If it was challenge he craved, then so be it.

It didn't take long. Ideas came to life and with them Caroline's lips curved to a mischievous smirk.

Klaus narrowed his eyes in suspicion when she moved her ivory chess piece, knocking one of his down and giving him a victorious smile.

"Checkmate," she declared with pride and Klaus' previous enjoyment turned to sourness.

He hated losing. In reality, over time, one way or another, he always won. And yet, Caroline had a way of defying him every chance she got. Their little dance twirling through it all. Through the ages and chaos and time and space, ever since existence's creation, and so it would continue until he would claim even her.

If only he ever could. For if there was something he had learned, it was that nothing in this universe –except him- was more resilient than Caroline. More than life itself.

* * *

Caroline gave him an incredulous look.

"You can't be serious right now," she exclaimed, looking at him suspiciously.

Klaus smiled at her surprise and next to them the horse became agitated. No living thing could see them in this plane of existence but his presence always brought forth a sense of foreboding to all living creatures. Caroline stepped ahead and patted the horse letting her aura calm it down and settle down its senses. Everything in the farm seemed to become livelier after her entrance in the gates but Klaus had to come and ruin it for her.

"Is it so hard to believe that I fancy you?" he asked her genuinely intrigued by her answer and Caroline looked at him seriously before she shook her head.

"You are everything I am not Klaus. You could even become the end of me given the time," she muttered and turned her attention back to the horse that surely now felt rejuvenated by her immortal and unseen touch.

Klaus laughed, sending waves of anxiety in ripples all around them, making clouds gather and flowers wither meters away from where they stood.

"You are more resilient than you give yourself credit for, sweetheart," he said.

Caroline tossed her head back.

The started circling each other slowly.

"I don't need you to tell me what I am and I am not," she fired back, making him bow down apologetically and then come closer to her.

"Without you I would not exist," he drawled.

Caroline looked at him intently.

"and without me you would hardly matter so much to all the mortals you have grown to love over time sweetheart," he reminded her.

Caroline did not deny the truth of his words.

Klaus seized the opportunity and carefully approached her closer and Caroline scanned his every step carefully.

"We create the perfect balance you and I. We are the same," he claimed.

Caroline stood opposite to him, taking in all his vibrations that killed parts of her, only for those part to be reborn, filling her with desires of light and darkness. Of all the harshness and the genuine beauty that ran in her veins and all the inevitability that surged in his bloodstream.

Two sides of the same coin.

Caroline opened her mouth to say something when she noticed the longing in Klaus' eyes. This time however he was not looking at her. He was looking at the horse. She frowned at first and then she understood. Klaus could not touch the animal. It would die. The only connection Klaus could have was with inanimate things and even those would in time become obsolete in his hands. Klaus could touch only dying creatures and even bring them comfort with his touch. Not because it would be a healing one but because it would finally relieve their pain.

And yet there was another connection that could tolerate his energy. One that was always and solely intertwined with his. One that only would bring balance.

She smiled at him and she reached down for his hand. Klaus was startled by her movement. She led his hand towards the horse. Klaus' eyes widened and he tried to pull his hand back.

"It is not his time yet," he murmured.

Caroline smiled at the twinge of fear and anxiety she detected in his tone. Klaus usually relished in claiming his toll but now he seemed awkward and bashful even.

Who would have thought Death had a heart and loved animals?

"He won't die," Caroline reassured him and Klaus relaxed a bit as she placed her warm palm on the top of his cold hand. She helped him flatten his fingers over the horse. The animal became agitated by his touch. Klaus instinctively tried to pull his hand back but Caroline intertwined her fingers with his and Klaus stilled. Her energy counteracted his and soon enough the beautiful horse relaxed and breathed evenly. Their connected touch became a caress and the horse uttered a neigh in content and Klaus beamed in bewilderment. Together they patted the horse and Klaus' lips curved to a boyish smile full of pleasant curves and dimples. Time stopped and Caroline was taken aback by the sheer awe she saw in his face and for the first time she realized that maybe he was right and they were not so different after all.

* * *

Caroline was at first surprised to discover that Klaus actually liked art. He did not only like it. He could also create it. He enjoyed poetry and literature and he was intrigued by the progress of science even though in many cases it meant that life would be prolonged and he would have to wait longer before he could collect his claim.

And yet Caroline also came to realize that Klaus was patient. He could wait for what would in the end become his. Everything turned to ash and got lost in memories over time and Klaus knew this all too well. He could take his time but in the end he always won. This is what he would tell her every time he tried to woo her.

And he was unrelenting in his efforts to charm her and get her to give him a chance and get to know him better. To get to know who he was and not what he was.

And Caroline also realized that the same counted for her. In essence everyone wanted her and loved her. But everyone also never realized who she truly was. Everyone took her for granted and never realized that she could be more cruel and painful and unforgiving than Death.

Klaus wanted to get to know for her hopes and dreams despite her hunger for life and creation. He wanted to get to understand her better and get an insight into her inspirations. He was also persistent. And so in time she eventually learned more things from him too.

Caroline also noticed that Klaus liked music and food. Which was another surprise for her. She always took certain things for granted but the same could not be said for Klaus, no matter how ironic this seemed.

Right now, he stood in front of a painting in the Hermitage museum. He observed in the dark the strokes and colors. He always preferred empty spaces while she wanted to feed on the aura of life.

She approached him and stood next to him. Her light enveloping his darkness and his blackness engulfing her bright shades.

"The technique here is exquisite," he commented.

Caroline hummed.

"So much art devoted to you," she noticed impressed.

Klaus smirked.

"It seems that you and I tend to inspire people,' he said.

She nodded.

* * *

Shades and colors became a blur and a swirl around them and Caroline laughed. Happiness twinkled in her eyes. She loved to dance and surprisingly Klaus was a great dancer. He had been observing humans for centuries and he enjoyed sonnets and waltz music and he really surprised her with how gracefully he could move.

Of course, occasionally both of them would take human form but even wrapped inside bones and marrow their touch could overwhelm humans if it became too intense or prolonged. Klaus' touch would eventually wear down any mortal and even cause them to shudder and break into deadly skin color, leading them to an early coffin. Even her touch could overcharge humans.

But they could touch each other. They could move together in harmony and always in sync. The world seemed to also enjoy their union, becoming more serene and balanced.

Klaus' hold was steady and they moved slowly at first and with faster and faster steps. Klaus spun Caroline around at the melodic symphony of Strauss's Blue Danube. The world seemed to shift and Caroline felt his hand on her waist tighten as she clutched his hand.

"You are a great dancer," Klaus praised her.

Caroline smiled at him.

The wide skirt of Caroline's gown swirled around her like a puff of smoke and Klaus led her deeper into the ballroom.

"You are not so bad yourself," Caroline said,

Klaus smiled back at her. "Admit it love. We were always meant to dance, me and you…we have always been-"

"Intertwined," she finished for him.

* * *

One way or another, they always ended up arguing. Their arguments could bring down civilizations. Caroline's emotions could create new life, shuttering the old, evolution giving place to the sudden painful eruption of stars and life. Klaus many times out of spite, ruined her creations in order to show her his power. The chain would continue as death would follow birth and rebirth would come after death. A game where nature would be trapped at every turn and bow down to their wills. Both of them able to create catastrophic events.

Caroline still mourned her dinosaurs which Klaus took from her. Klaus hated how Earth was overpopulated by inferior creatures who believed they could defy him and Caroline always seemed to be taking their side.

Selfish, greedy, Caroline who never wavered, changing her ways and form, adjusting and preserving, but never changing her true colors. She burned and never rested despite all of her knowledge and even her deep understanding of what he needed to do. All the things he had to do for _her_. Should he not exist, she would not either. The natural order of the universe demanded them both.

But right now, Caroline was being irrational while also trying to contain the damage of an epidemic Klaus seemed to enjoy. What she hated even more was the fact that it was sprouted by her part and Klaus only got to harvest the result.

"You could at least be a little bit more lenient," she accused him, agitated.

Klaus features turned to a sardonic mask.

"You are impossible," she yelled at him, gesturing wildly.

"For the thousandth time I don't assist terrorists!" Klaus shouted, frustrated.

"You just let them have their way!" she blamed him.

Klaus cursed under his lips. She was so headstrong and obstinate.

"It is not my fault humans are such idiots that they keep killing each other!" Klaus shrugged.

Caroline growled. "Don't force me to step in," she challenged him.

Klaus' mood changed. "Stay out of this," he warned her.

Caroline snorted.

"Why don't you mind your own business, Caroline?" he pressed.

Caroline pushed her hands against her waist. "I am!"

"You are not!"

"I am!"

"Why don't you go to create some puppies? That always seem to make you feel better," Klaus proposed.

Caroline glowered at him. "Do not patronize me!" she snapped, pointing a warning finger at him.

"I am patronizing you? You are the one that tried to create immortals!" he roared, his fury coming forth. Caroline said nothing making him even angrier.

"Honestly Caroline. I am tired of all the religions you created by your 'miracles' and experiments," he protested.

Caroline shrugged carelessly.

"Even you can't defy the natural order Caroline," Klaus sternly opposed her.

Caroline pressed her lips. "Which you happen to remember only when it is convenient for you," Caroline shouted, fury blazing in her eyes.

Klaus glared at her. "Well love, maybe I am just evil and I can't help myself," he shrugged even though they both knew he was lying. He was not evil. He was only inevitable. This was his nature. And that was always hers. To stand against him. To fight him. To defy him.

Caroline sighed and shook her head.

"I am not going to do this with you right now," she mumbled angrily.

Klaus laughed. His laughter an uncomfortable unpleasant sound. "Sure love. Go run back to your apes," he mocked.

Caroline stomped down her foot. "This is why I created evolution!" she bit out, peeved.

"Yes and you must be so proud with how human evolution is making species go extinct and is slowly killing all kinds of _life_ on this planet. Are you still sure you don't want me to interfere? I would be doing you a favor," he drawled, giving Caroline a condescending smile that made her seethe.

"Of course you would not like people. But rest assured, the feeling is mutual. Well, Klaus…At least people still like me," she reminded him with spite before she disappeared in thin air leaving him behind.

"I might not be a people person but everyone is traditionally more curious about me than you," he muttered childishly in the void she left behind, knowing all too well that Caroline's stubbornness would not subdue for centuries to come.

He ran his fingers through his hair. He was sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that he would not see her again for a quite some time. Maybe if he gave a few more decades to her inferior playthings she would be less unreasonable?

* * *

Klaus walked into the hospital corridors with certain steps. He looked around and following the stench of a dying aura. He entered a room and noticed the pale man who lay on the bed. Dripping liquid was slowly falling in the IV that was connected to the vein in the fragile hand. The rhythmic bleep from the EKG showed how the man still hung on to life but just barely. It was not enough. He was already half way gone.

Klaus reached down, ready to touch the man when he breathed in her scent. It flowed around him like a swirl of smoke. A breath of fresh air. She grabbed his wrist before he could touch the man on the table.

Klaus slowly rose up his eyes and first saw the beautiful golden threads before his gaze followed her sensuous lips and the high cheekbones landing to her bright eyes. He seemed mesmerized for a moment before his eyes hardened.

"No," he strictly said.

Caroline's stared at him with determination. "You can't have him!" she hissed.

Klaus tried to pull his hand from her grip and they struggled as always.

Her power a match for his own.

The stared at each other and their wills fought. Klaus jerked his hand but Caroline did not let go. Instead she was yanked forward and Klaus wrapped his free hand around her waist, trapping her body against his.

"This is what you keep saying every time," he objected, letting his annoyance and frustration become obvious.

"He is too young," Caroline argued.

He did not seem to care. "If not today, I will still take him," Klaus said unemotionally.

Caroline's eyes gleamed with conviction.

"He is mine _now_ ," she fought back.

Klaus pressed his lips. Caroline was always very avaricious over her possessions. It was part of what made her indomitable.

"For now. For such a fleeting time," Klaus challenged and tried to push his fingers towards the twenty-five-year-old man. Caroline's grip became steel around his wrist and immobilized him.

Klaus laughed at her antics and nodded. Caroline narrowed her eyes suspiciously as he moved back and looked at the man on the table and then Klaus raised his hands in the air in mock surrender.

But Caroline saw the predatory glint in his eyes and felt the chill draping her skin, making her shiver. Klaus came closer and instinctively she grabbed the man's hand, becoming his lifeline. The man's heartbeat rose and Klaus smirked sarcastically.

"You somehow want to pretend you are superior but you are no better than me. We are equals love. Never forget this," Klaus purred and his finger skimmed the line of her jaw.

"Don't do this," Caroline muttered as realization dawned on her and Klaus smiled. There was nothing humane in this smile. It was all destiny and fate. It was the very end he brought. It was his true colors.

"You don't get to win this Caroline," he said and his lips covered hers rendering her powerless to him.

She was part of him and he was part of her. This was something he was not going to allow her to forget.

Klaus let go, leaving her stunned and Caroline' felt tears in her eyes. She had saved the man on the table but the scales had to become balanced.

She closed her eyes when Klaus entered the children's wing of the hospital.

* * *

The poor animal writhed on the ground. Such a majestic creature to have such an untimely death. Its equine eyes reflected fear but most of all pain. Klaus sighed as a feeling he ever rarely felt engulfed him. It was sorrow. It was heartache.

Klaus carried his feet forward slowly as if they weighted more than he could move. The horse uttered a neigh that was more of a high pitched whimper of instant panic and unbound anxiety. Klaus black coat swirled around him as he crouched down in front of the horse. He remained still, watching the brown beauty lying on the blanket of dirt in the stable. He allowed himself to take form through shadow and smoke and as he did clouds gathered in the sky and mist rose. He waited until the environment adjusted to his presence and soon enough the horse calmed down.

He never had any friends and for most of his existence he never wanted to have any.

Truth to be told, no one wanted to befriend an entity that brought the end. Almost everyone feared him and no one ever embraced even the idea of him. And yet there were times when out of all of Caroline's creations some of her sired did not reject his presence. Everything at first felt a sense of alarm and trepidation when he approached, even through the invisible barrier, but throughout the ages and his memories, there were times when creatures like the one before him did not fear him. And that was enough. It calmed him. It allowed him to feel serene and to feel even welcomed. To not feel utterly _alone_.

This horse had been his only friend for the past years. The only creature to which Klaus talked to and shared his secrets. Klaus had realized that eternity could only be counted and appreciated by these moments. Moments that always ended too soon. Moments like these.

He knew that he had to say goodbye and put an end to the suffering unfolding in front of him but as he reached to touch the velvety nose of the horse his hand trembled and his eyes burned. He refused to cry over something as insignificant as the loss of a creature whose time in the universe made no difference to the grand design of all things. And yet, he could not help but feel regret for what he was about to do.

This kind of emotion flooding him could only be described as weakness. As nothing but an affliction but his fingers shook and curled into a fist.

Klaus lowered his head and took in a deep breath. He had longed for a long time to be able to touch living creatures in his true form for more than a few seconds and to be able to fulfill his desires. Desires that were not only ideas and art and music. Desires that would bring understanding and warmth and a connection. But the only moment he could do that was the moment when his object of affection was meant to perish.

He knew he was stalling and he felt his lip quivering. Rage filled him. Unspoken denial of all the things he refused to feel or even acknowledge. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. All these human emotions did not belong to him. So why did he feel them?

He took a sharp intake of breath when he felt Caroline's hand squeeze his shoulder.

"Don't let him suffer anymore," she told him, stepping back from her inherent need to attach herself to every living thing for as long as possible. But right now, Caroline was giving him this. This small token of understanding.

"Am I the _evil_ no one can shake Caroline?" Klaus mumbled and tightly gripped her hand resting on his shoulder, wanting to lean into her comforting touch.

"You are not evil Klaus," she assured him, seeing the good in him, "Only unavoidable," she reminded him and knelt down beside him.

Klaus turned his head to face her and Caroline gave him a warm smile. Maybe it was her that was evil in the end. For bringing genesis with an expiration date and for not feeling any shame for doing so.

Caroline gave Klaus an encouraging nod and stood by his side letting him bask in her aura. She rested her forehead against his and cupped his cheek with her free hand as Klaus interlaced his fingers with hers on his shoulder.

Caroline got up and detangled her hand from his. She knew that this was a moment in which Klaus wanted his privacy. She knew there were times when even Death could mourn the loss of life and this was something Klaus had to do on his own.

She walked away, making sure to cast away the clouds from the sky and let the sun shine through and generate warmth and life to the scenery in the horizon and to all around the dying horse. She did not want these last moments for Klaus to be filled with darkness.

It was only when her form was devoured by the distant shapes that Klaus allowed a tear to fall down his cheek.

He gulped down air but then smiled when he finally allowed his hand to gently caress the soft snout of the horse, allowing him to weave his emotions into a farewell.

" _Goodbye my friend."_

The horse sighed and snuggled closer to Klaus' touch contently as its last breath left it.

* * *

Klaus' quiet chuckle broke the monotony of the bustling noise from the nearby tables and the falling rain hitting the window next to them.

Caroline inhaled the smell of the fresh brewed coffee in front of her.

Klaus threw the newspaper on the table and Caroline looked beyond the window of the small Parisian café. The autumn view of the city was spectacular, especially as it was reflected in the drops of rain sliding on the outside of the glass, catching in their depths rainbow colors. Caroline always loved the sight of the Eiffel Tower and the grey skies above it. She enjoyed the buildings and the buzz and the elegance of Paris and she loved watching and studying people and humanity. It was part of her nature. To see, admire, adapt and evolve. To grow. To live.

"Oh look at that. Your pets discovered the God particle," Klaus snorted and took a swig of his coffee. His sardonic gaze was still focused on the title of the paper.

"They want to unlock the mysteries of life," Caroline laughed, watching with fascination the people walking up and down the streets under open umbrellas. Life went on. Technology was part of it and Caroline loved the rise of civilization as much as Klaus relished their fall. But there was something so indomitable at seeing how despite evolution, human nature never changed. People still walked down the roads and the streets and the paths. Repeating the same mirage over and over again. A constant flow so fleeting and fragile and yet so resilient and repetitive.

"Well, our ancestors created the Big Bang," Klaus interrupted her thoughts, gaining her full attention.

She turned around to meet his teasing voice and her eyes snapped up to his face. Klaus slowly wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making her grimace as salacious thoughts erupted in her mind.

She blew some strands of hair out of her face with a stymied huff that added to Klaus amusement. He always loved to push her buttons and Caroline pressed her lips together, refusing to give in to him and yet failing miserably. She tried to stop the bubbling giggle from escaping her lips but soon enough the flowers bloomed on the table and she could not help but laugh at his boyish look, his dimples and how they became more pronounced after hearing her laughter.

"Oh God! You are so creepy!" she bit out, unable to hide the mirth from her tone and Klaus beamed at her and his hand reached for the flowers. He did not touch them but made sure to contain their bloom. If not, soon enough this place would turn into a jungle, would even turn Paris into a tropical rainforest if left unchecked.

"God?" Klaus knowingly dared.

Caroline rolled her eyes. She focused on the flowers and how Klaus swirled his hand around their petals, manipulating their aura as if they were a musical instrument for him to skillfully play.

"Shut up you know what I mean," she mumbled and took a sip from her coffee.

Klaus' chuckle rose, creating a chain of events that would start from their table and would end in funerals.

* * *

He was livid! He wanted to scream and his temper made the clouds above them disintegrate into a storm, ready to ravage with wind and lighting everything around them.

"You can't keep bringing people back from the dead!" Klaus yelled at Caroline.

She gave him an innocent look that was hardly apologetic.

"Come on, it was only twenty minutes," she mumbled and could not help but smile as the young woman hugged her husband after the scare he gave her. The paramedics next to them were in awe by what they had witnessed, but none the less, they immediately surged into action, transporting the man from the helicopter to the gurney, running on the slippery hospital landing towards the door that lead to the elevators in the hospital.

Klaus was tempted to use a lightning strike on them but Caroline kept a close eye on him.

"That's it! I need to go on vacation," Klaus grumbled with so much rage it turned the sky black as he watched the commotion move away from him. Water poured from the skies in an unrelenting downpour that seemed to thrive in Caroline's presence.

Caroline tried not to laugh. She really tried but she burst out laughing.

Klaus gave her his most lethal glare and when it came from him that said a lot.

"Don't be ridiculous Klaus. Death does not take a leave of absence," Caroline said in-between giggles and Klaus took a threating step at her before he disappeared. Caroline shook her head at his dramatic exit and dissolved with the rain, tracing and following his vibrations. From the hospital roof of Germany, she landed on the crowded streets of sunny NYC, trying to reach for Klaus stealthily between the shadows. Souls kept materializing and disappearing with every step throughout the dimensional gaps, making Caroline huff in annoyance for having to chase him.

"Don't be so dramatic," Caroline muttered as she ran after him, "Look I am sorry-" she started as she caught up with him and walked by his side with fast strides but Klaus only growled. In response he touched the first man that passed by him. The man coughed and his eyes rolled back before he fell down.

And then chaos.

People all around him yelled and tried to help the unknown man. Some of them tried to give him first aid; others called for a doctor and another called for an ambulance. Klaus casually kept walking ahead.

"Seriously?" Caroline yelled at him, gesturing back at the dying man who slowly and so very painful breathing his last on the pavement.

"Don't blame me, love! He was a heavy smoker," Klaus shrugged and his effrontery made Caroline furious.

She gave a glare full of daggers and turned around to go help the man but Klaus gave her a warning look and eventually she relented with a sigh.

"Fine," she muttered, knowing she had already pushed Klaus' limits today.

The man behind them died and Caroline walked next to Klaus among the noise and the colors of New York City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by the quote:
> 
> ¨¨Life asked Death "Why do people love me, but hate you?"
> 
> Death responded "Because you are a beautiful lie, and I'm a painful truth." ¨¨
> 
> \- Author Unknown.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life asked Death "Why do people love me, but hate you?" Death responded "Because you are a beautiful lie, and I'm a painful truth." Caroline as the essence of Life and Klaus as the essence of Death intertwined in a game of pull and push throughout the ages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Many thanks to Anastasia Dreams for her patience and for still editing my stories.
> 
> * Information: In this story Caroline is depicted as the essence of Life and Klaus as the essence of Death. They are the personifications of Life and Death either in human form or Godly essence or energies or simply as ideas and parts of creation.
> 
> The story shows snippets of their interactions through time in no specific chronological order.
> 
> * Part II/II

Caroline steps echoed inside the empty dark corridors of Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Night had fallen and she could hear the turn of the pages from worlds away as Klaus' fingers gently caressed the letters of history.

Her snort was inaudible as her colors passed through the endless pages seeking for his scent and feeling every part of hers being pulled towards him. Even if he did not leave behind such magnetic gloomy markings to the fabric of reality that always betrayed his hideouts she could guess that sooner or later when he visited Earth would end up lurking in archeological museums and libraries. This was his way of keeping score and if she was to be honest, so did she.

Right now, he leaned back against the bookshelves reading a book about what she assumed would probably be biblical catastrophes and even though he felt her presence he did not remove his eyes from the book and his stance remained nonchalant.

"You really need to stop hanging out at the Bermuda triangle," Caroline commented casually as her finger drifted from the wooden frame of one of the shelves near him to the spine of a book that counted natural mysteries and casualties. Klaus' only response was a delightful hint of a smirk but his eyes remained focused on his book. Caroline pressed her lips together feeling a bit peeved by the fact that he was ignoring her.

"I have a bone to pick with you," she blurted out. The annoyance that lingered in her voice was not lost on Klaus.

"What now?" he asked as he turned one more page and Caroline gritted her teeth.

"You keep killing my muses!"

Not her wild hand gesturing or the indignation and pure anger that reflected in her voice seemed to deter or distract Klaus from his reading. He did not seem to care as he folded his legs and stretched his body leisurely. His attention solely on the book.

"You don't say," he offhandedly mumbled. The tone of his husky voice was veiled with amusement even though he was not looking at her.

Caroline threw her hands in the air and stormed towards him. Klaus' eyebrow arched when Caroline aggression rose, making her take the book out of his hands and throw it away.

"Seriously! Don't you love art? Did you not enjoy Renaissance?" She tried to entice him with all the things she knew he valued and loved, "Ideas still need to come to life. Stop killing every muse you encounter!" she rumbled furiously and Klaus tried hard not to laugh earning a glare from Caroline.

He rose tall and straightened his back, trying to compose himself back to seriousness. His eyes now were intently fixated on Caroline. On her rosy cheeks and red lips. Anger suited her.

He prowled closer and did not miss the momentary breath she held in. He smirked as he leaned towards her and rested his hand on the books behind her.

"To be honest, love, I also quite enjoyed the Dark Ages," he whispered tauntingly in her ear before he picked up a new book, "actually this current age seems to be reflecting those signs quite a lot lately." He winked at her as he shuffled the pages of the book in his hands.

"Klaus!" the exasperation in her exclamation this time was enough to cause the laughter he kept in to break out.

"It is not funny!" she accused him with a glower, barely stopping herself from stomping her foot down on the polished hardwood.

Klaus pressed his lips and tried to stop laughing. "I know, I know," he apologized playfully trying to sooth her anger even though the chuckle that escaped his lips made her huff in anger once more.

"Then stop laughing!" she complained and Klaus nodded mirthfully.

He then set the book down and looked straight at her with a sly simper that made Caroline's eyes narrow in suspicion.

"Fine. Fine," he relented but the mischievousness in the glint in the blue of his eyes could not be missed, "But what is in it for me?" he asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes in return. She should have anticipated this. "What do you want now?" she grunted annoyed and Klaus smirk turned to a bright smile.

"A date," he simply offered in exchange and Caroline gawked at him for a moment.

" _A date?"_

"A date," Klaus repeated, enjoying her uncertainty and ire.

"Fine. But you will keep your hands to yourself," she warned him, pointing a finger at him and Klaus could not help but give her a salacious grin.

"Oh you know what I mean," she huffed, "keep death to a minimum!"

"As the lady wishes," he mockingly bowed at her and then shook his head, "you know I am spoiling you more than I should, love," he noticed.

Caroline looked at him as if he was insane. "Seriously?" the accusation that reflected in her voice made Klaus shrug, "do you think I have forgotten the Black Death? Or your manipulating influence on the twilight years of the Yuan Dynasty? Or the Chinese Famine? Or the strings you pushed to get Hitler to power!" she hissed at him and Klaus yearningly put his hand over his heart as he remembered the death toll. Quite the feast those times gave him.

"Ah those were the days," he recalled fondly reminiscing with a sigh of longing for times long gone but still remembered and Caroline scowled at him.

"Do not even think about it!"

Klaus looked at her as if she had offended him before he raised his hands on the air in mock surrender after the dirty look she cast at his direction.

Klaus waited until Caroline turned around and left him alone amongst the books before he went towards the book she had threw on the floor moments before. He crouched down and took the " _River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life"_ back in his hands.

* * *

Deep inside the trees and the smell of rain, beautiful wings fluttered in the mud. Their last song nothing but a deafening lament inviting only chaos. Their white was torn and shredded and Caroline felt every molecule dying slowly while still trying to cling on to life. She clenched her eyes shut when she felt _his_ shadow hovering all around her. She refused to utter a word or to even move. A tear spilled from her eye and fell to the ground creating a seed deep in the dirt to sprout roots but that did not stop the pain.

Klaus looked at Caroline with a pained expression before he set his eyes to the last Madeiran Large White Butterfly. Such beauty coming to an end.

"I am sorry, love," Klaus whispered his apology but Caroline remained speechless.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. His eyes pled for forgiveness and guilt swam in them but Caroline knew that he was not the one that needed to atone for this. This was not his fault. It never was. He only followed the crime against nature whenever life was coming to an end. It was his duty and he was as powerless to stop it as she was.

The moment his fingertip grazed the almost transparent wings and traced their lines and their thin structure Caroline felt his touch deep in her gut. He tried to be gentle and to pass his caress in the wisp of the wind but it still felt like hot iron cutting through her and Caroline could not help but wail in pain.

Klaus took one more. One more species went extinct under his touch. Caroline wanted to scream _no more_ as the last one of one too many species faded away to the graveyard of time. Lost in history and in the shards of a nature so cruel and so broken that it was only a mere reflection of all that life held in its belly. Caroline tried so hard to prevent this from happening but it was all in vain and now she could not even scream and plead for this torment to end. She felt as if a piece of her was torn off. All her secrets and fears broken down in the wings of a dead butterfly.

In the moment death cast his shadow all unrelenting and unwavering giving to her no more time to adjust she could not help but yell and stumble down in pain.

Caroline felt as if she could not go on for a moment. She held onto to all the life force around her trying to compensate for the loss and adapt to it as she clutched her stomach and muttered incoherent sounds of anguish.

She shook her head in agony and mourning and tried so hard to breathe it all in when Klaus hands wrapped around her torso. She struggled and tried to push him away as the sludge on the ground licked her skin and hair and the falling rain turned everything to oozing mud and heavy water.

But Klaus held on, taking her in his arms. His embrace contradicting the coldness of his nature. It was warm and allowed her to lean on him. She felt his lips on her cheek whispering soothing words close to her ear.

Klaus hated seeing Caroline in so much pain. He mellowed down his aura and allowed her to find refuge in his arms and waited. He waited for the pain to subside and for Caroline to let go. To let go and take the energy from him and recycle it into something else. Into something new. To give it new life. To create the cycle again. He knew that it would not be enough. He knew she was resilient but every time a piece of her was lost the more she ached. She always turned rough and hard and ruthless when parts of hers turned to dust. She turned uncompassionate and she was bleeding her unrelenting lack of mercy with no pity and respite. It was the only way for her to survive.

"Shh…it's okay. You are safe," he muttered on her wet skin and felt the oxygen around them turn to ash as she moaned and trembled in his arms.

Caroline was resilient but in the end even Gods were destined to fall. The fact that she was safe didn't mean she was not still in danger.

* * *

Klaus gave Caroline his most affronted look.

"What is your excuse for her?" he seethed and pointed at the elderly woman that knitted a scarf with trembling hands.

"She is kind," Caroline defended and a wave of childishness poured into her tone.

Klaus rolled his eyes and tried to keep his frustration under control. Unsuccessfully!

"She is 103!" Klaus exploded and Caroline turned around and faced him with pleading eyes.

"Exactly! What is wrong with one more teeny tiny year?" she asked him, her tone sweet and full of expectation. Her eyes were brighter than ever and filled with so much intensity and passion that Klaus sighed as his irritation paved its way for his surrender.

"This is what you said last year!" he mumbled agitated accusing her for playing the same trick over and over with him but he just could not resist those eyes.

Caroline kept looking at him with her sparkling eyes and her lips formed a supplicating pout.

Klaus growled and backed down with a wave of his hand, giving in to Caroline whims.

"These shenanigans of yours is why this planet is overflowing with humans above its limitation!" he blamed her and Caroline beamed and threw at herself at him wrapping her hands around his neck. It solicited a sigh from his mouth and later he would try to convince himself that this had not been a breath of longing as his hands gripped her waist drawing her closer before he dipped his head to the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent and letting go. Forgetting of the end of all things and craving a new beginning.

* * *

"You can't keep creating earthquakes and tsunamis and then blame me for the death count you know."

Klaus walked over the rubble with a look of distaste as dust rose from the broken pieces of stone and cement and greyed his black shoes. Between the debris human limbs could be seen and on the other side of the destroyed pavement humans were trying to rescue other humans from the wrecks.

"I know," Caroline muttered and stretched lazily and Klaus raised a surprised eyebrow at her admittance. However, Caroline, was still inebriated by all the energy the volcanic eruption spat out and distributed to the atmosphere. With each tectonic move the earth shook and the seas parted in waves that created more energy and recycled Caroline's aura. This was like a spa day for her.

There were of course losses but you always had to lose some in order to gain some and in this case much more and Caroline now allowed the sun to bathe her and illuminate her as he also got his share. Caroline was so intoxicated right now that she didn't care to admit how much she relished in the destruction before them. But despite her pleasurable haze her eyes opened and glared at him.

"If you repeat this to any of your reapers I will deny I ever said it. Beside it does not mean that it is still not your fault," she refuted and Klaus' eyebrows comically rose up on his forehead in bafflement.

"This makes no sense!" he exclaimed and Caroline only tossed her hair back and made a gesture of dismissal.

"Sure it does," she countered with a bright smile walking past him.

Astonished by her cheeky attitude and her effrontery Klaus shook his head and dusted the dirt and the grime from his clothes.

"Unbelievable," he muttered and looked back at the devastation. At least he wouldn't go hungry for quite some time.

* * *

Klaus was ready to touch a woman in the cancer wing. He narrowed his eyes when the doctors came in and tried to resuscitate her and scoffed at the incessant need the mortals had to constantly defy him.

He shook his head and allowed his hand to levitate just above the woman's head taking in all her life force slowly bit by bit. And as he was ready to devour the last bits of the her last heartbeat he felt warmth that turned to heat and made his skin itch. He turned around, only to see a flash of blonde hair sweeping all around him before Caroline kissed him out of the blue, taking him by surprise. His eyes widened momentarily before they flattened close and he lost all focus as Caroline's lips moved against his own gently prying his mouth open. Klaus poured all the life he stole from the woman into Caroline's breath and in return Caroline's fingers ran at the nape of his neck sensually caressing his hair and bringing him closer. Klaus dipped his tongue possessively in her mouth and Caroline's teeth caught his lower lip sucking it to her mouth before allowing her tongue to explore the hot cavern of Klaus' mouth. They engaged in a game of power and control to which Caroline's seduction won.

Klaus' removed his hand and his shadow from the woman that was dying out on the bed beneath them and entangled his fingers in Caroline's locks enjoying the way their silky texture brushed against his fingertips.

He felt Caroline's satisfied smile in their kiss but before his suspicion could win him over, Caroline tauntingly pressed her body closer to his, allowing her curves to align with his hard lines. Without dividing her attention, her hand moved to touch the woman as she kept kissing him. The heartbeat of the mortal surged back to life and Klaus groaned against Caroline's lips as he realized with a growl how that devious minx had played him. As Caroline wrapped once more her hands around his neck deepening their kiss, he also realized that his resolution was gone. He was left powerless in Caroline's mercy and he did not even care about anything else except how to make their kiss last longer.

'Fine' he thought as his anger got replaced with desire and his mind got clouded with untarnished need, 'he would get the mortal another time.' He had more important things to do now.

* * *

Klaus lay back and hummed as he kept withdrawing his touch just in the nick of time.

The man on the floor writhed in pain and crawled on the tiles, trying to somehow find someone to help him, but it was useless. His agony was prolonged and his eyes rolled into the back of his scalp. His breath was caught in his throat that constricted violently with the bile that kept rising and the foam and blood that escaped his mouth.

"What has he done to you?" Caroline mumbled with a stoic expression as she watched the suffering of the human at her feet. The sight was nothing less than horrifying but she had seen much worse in her time.

"Nothing, I am just bored," Klaus shrugged off her question and Caroline's eyes softened with the pity that reflected in them. She sighed and watched as Klaus played with the mortal's last moments.

This was never about justice. Death did not only come for the unjust and pass by the good and the fair. Sooner or later, all belonged to him and Klaus was the one that decided how they would go out. Eventually, he was the one holding the strings and everyone ended up being his puppets. He was not always a merciful puppeteer or even a just one. Human morality and trivial conventions did not matter in the great scheme of the things or the grand design.

Klaus crouched down and sneered at the misery in front of him but then he clapped his hands on his knees and raised his head and fixed a pointed stare at Caroline who looked repulsed by his actions.

"Would you like me to take him love?" he offered casually, feigning concern and leniency and his trademark smirk appeared in the curved edges of his mouth as he watched her. Her stubbornness was always present in every fiber of her being and this time was no different. His eyes shone with sarcasm and challenge and he did not miss Caroline's hesitation or her inability to actually show mercy. In fact, he was showing the same mercy and compassion she was ready to gift others with.

Caroline stiffened and she gulped down but otherwise remained silent. Her impassive stance made Klaus' face light up and he snickered. The suffering of the man was atrocious and Klaus was postponing his end and feeding on the stench of decay that invited him closer but Caroline was also thirsty for those that clung to her. She never severed her connection with them and their pain never concerned her for as long as she could benefit from it.

"And that is the difference between me and you sweetheart," Klaus ruthlessly provoked her as he gently caressed the man's hair, feigning care before removing his hand again. Caroline breathed out heavily and then Klaus' eyes hardened and he flattened his palm against the man's chest. Both of them heard the thrumming of the dying heart before it stopped beating and the man's vacant eyes stared at the void as he become one more corpse for Klaus to add to his collection.

"I might occasionally stall, but I never discriminate," Klaus' face contorted into a mask of mockery, making Caroline's demeanor change into a defensive one, "I am never taking sides and I am not selfish to violently linger and latch on as if it would make a difference," he taunted and the insult of his scorn made Caroline instantly grimace and take a step back.

"Neither do I," Caroline snipped, denying the accuracy of his words but Klaus did not miss the way she faltered.

"Or so you say."

* * *

Caroline scrunched up her nose looking at the poor little duck.

"I can't believe you killed it," she groused not averting her eyes from the poor animal. Klaus simply shrugged.

"Believe it, love."

Caroline did not appreciate his nonchalant stance and glared at him but soon enough a sigh escaped her lips.

"I can't believe humans breed them in such conditions just to kill them for food!" she mumbled, peeved with a horrified expression and Klaus smirked at her indignant tone.

"You should have added different defaults in their manufacturing settings," he teased and Caroline's face contorted sarcastically.

"Ha ha very funny," she mumbled annoyed and Klaus laughed. A sound light, boyish and Caroline ,for a fleeting moment, wondered how it would feel if she could poke his dimples.

"I try," Klaus winked and Caroline rolled her eyes at him.

"Although come to think about it Foie Gras is quite-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Caroline snipped, abruptly interrupting him and glowering at him.

"Fine fine," Klaus chuckled and mockingly rose his hands in the air pretending to be afraid but he did not miss the flash of sadness that passed through Caroline's eyes. She was genuinely upset about this.

"Will it cheer you if I hug the next duck eating human I come across?" he proposed hoping to make her feel better. And he really was not a hugging person but for her he would do an exception.

"What? No!" Caroline exclaimed shocked. How could he even suggest this? What was wrong with him? Did he not know her at all?

Klaus huffed annoyed. He could never tell what this woman even wanted! She was sad about ducks for crying out loud! And they called him dramatic!

"Fine. I'll go vegan!"

"Klaus!"

* * *

Caroline strode with confidence, among the tables and the people, enjoying the dim lights and the upbeat music and it did not take long for his sharp unique scent to reach her nostrils. She decisively ran her tongue over her lip and she walked further in towards the bar and plastered a provocative smile in her face. She could tell by the magnetic pulsations around them and the flickering of the lights that Klaus had already sensed her presence no matter how hard she had tried to veil it.

She pushed her leather jacket down on her shoulders slowly taking it off with seductive movements exposing her revealing clothes that left her back bare and pronounced her cleavage.

"The place looks pretty good considering people were blown up in it just a few weeks ago," she observed with the right hint of voluptuousness in her voice. The flirtation in her tone could not be misinterpreted.

Klaus smiled at the sound of her voice and slowly twirled the glass he was holding in his hands. Caroline could see he was relaxed and enjoying his time savoring a glass of fine Chardonnay and relishing in the aftermath of the latest destruction that took place just in the spot he was sitting. Caroline could still feel her skin tingle with a surging electricity that rippled in the air and no mortal could feel. It carried death in its mist.

"Caroline! To what do I owe the pleasure?" he inquired politely without hiding his excitement. His eyes roamed over her provocative image showing appreciation for what he was seeing. He invited her to sit with him with a gesture that was nothing less than well calculated and showed off his gentlemanly ways.

"Can't I just come to say I have missed you?" she played along sassily and elegantly sat at the stool next to him.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her and noticed how she tapped her perfectly manicured nails over the surface of the bar before she slid them sensually on the polished wood.

"You are looking exceptionally beautiful tonight and you are already sweet talking me. What have I done to earn this sweet disposition of yours, sweetheart?" he cautiously mused out loud, keeping his tone neutral and engaging.

Caroline beamed at him, causing his suspicion to rise immediately.

"Klaus?" she started carefully and Klaus frowned at the way she stalled and teased him by drawing out his name in an almost lascivious intonation.

"Yes, love?" he carefully asked and he was mesmerized by Caroline's libidinous smile. But there was something in her eyes that he did not like.

"I've been wondering _if_ -"

"No!" Klaus cut her off immediately and Caroline opened her mouth to protest but he castigated her with a glare of rejection.

"You did not even let me finish!" she exclaimed almost petulantly and Klaus dismissed her games with a wave of his hand.

"I know that look Caroline and it is still a no!"

Caroline pouted at his unrelenting refusal.

"Come on! What is another flimsy solar system?" she pressed childishly and Klaus laughed at her insistence.

"Good form, love, but I am afraid I can't allow it," he chuckled under his breath and took a swig at his drink.

Caroline's good mood vanished on the spot and the lines around her eyes hardened.

"Why not?" she seriously persisted, her whisper low and lethal, and Klaus smiled at the way her temper become a volatile mix of changed anger and animosity.

"We need to keep a measure of prudence in our endeavors. You wouldn't want to blow us into nothingness now would you?" he sardonically cautioned and Caroline rolled her eyes before she cleared her throat.

What Klaus did not expect however was for her smile to return. An innocent looking smile that put him on edge. It was as if spiders crawled over him, trapping him in Caroline's web. Nothing good ever came when she was using this particular expression.

"Well…here's the thing," she begun in an overly positive good mood that barely veiled a fake shy expression, "I didn't come here to _exactly_ ask permission," she babbled with a giggle.

"You don't say," Klaus tensely encouraged her to continue and Caroline seemed almost bashful for a moment.

"What if I told you-"

"You already started weaving your creation haven't you?" he angrily bit out and set aside his glass. He clenched his jaw and saw how Caroline straightened her back in response. He was ready to attack and she was ready to fight him off.

"What if I did?" she pushed his limits even more and his facial muscles spasmed with the rage that filled him.

"This is not our deal love. Should I start breaking the rules too?"

The danger in his threat was escorted by a collective gasp. All the humans around them blanched and lost their breaths. Caroline looked around worried and tried to balance Klaus' influence by using her own aura. The people in the club looked frightened for reasons none of them could explain. Caroline pressed her lips when a woman fell down clutching her belly. She was miscarrying and Caroline could not stop it even though Klaus had already taken his fair share of unborn babies for the day.

"Should I undo it then?" Caroline muttered in a defeated voice, hanging her head low and Klaus arched his brow in question, relinquishing his hold. The woman relaxed a bit as her husband picked her up, ready to get her to a hospital and Caroline breathed out slowly, allowing her healing breath to reach the woman before she left the bar.

"You have time to undo it?"

"I would if I was distracting you right now while igniting new clouds of gas and dust near a dying star. Which I am totally not," she hurried out with an overly innocent high pitched sound behind her innocuous denial, knowing that the time it would take for the new solar system to get formed was nothing but a flicker of time for them both.

Klaus closed his eyes trying to regain his patience.

"Please don't get mad," Caroline grimaced, seeing the way he gulped down angrily.

"I am getting too old for this," Klaus grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose but Caroline gave him a pleading look full of hope. One he could not resist. One she knew he could not resist. He saw her imploring eyes and he felt the need to scream. He hated being weak and he was ready to curse her but instead the word that slipped from his lips next was colored with tired acceptance as he gave in to her whims.

"Fine" he relented and Caroline all but yelled. Excited she jumped up and hugged him. He froze at her spontaneous embrace and his hands trembled; he licked his lips and he was tempted to hug her back but instead he pushed her away.

He pointed a warning finger at her direction.

"No humanoids this time!" he grit out but Caroline only batted her eyes at him making him admire her long eyelashes and her coquettish way of luring him in.

"I can't make any promises," she sang happily as she turned her back at him and walked away, tossing her hair at her the back.

"You at least owed me a drink Caroline," he yelled at her while she vigorously ran away with swaying hips and bouncing curls, all excited and ready to go play with her new creation.

"Every single time," he muttered and looked at the bottles behind the bar. He would need a lot of booze and mourning wails to handle this tonight.

* * *

Klaus pressed the button angrily and the screen of the TV turned black. Caroline held back her laughter when Klaus gave her a dirty look. Instead, she looked at his bowl and took some of the left over popcorn and chewed it making sure to make as much noise as she could in order to irritate him more. She could never get his fixation for food. And the fact that she was now eating from his share was making him give her the evil eye. Tonight they had feasted on Italian pizza, milkshakes and popcorn. Nothing as fancy as Klaus' usual fascination with wines, champagne and French Cuisine but still it felt really good to relish on junk food and snacks.

"How much more ridiculous can they get? That's it! I am going to pay a visit to the writers and that obnoxious talentless actress tonight!" Klaus blurted out with an offended town. He looked angry and frustrated to the point where he threw a pillow at the TV.

Caroline gave him a sympathetic look and tried to steal some more of his kernels but Klaus swatted her hand away.

"If you take them, the show will be cancelled and left in a lovely cliffhanger," she pointed out and actually burst out laughing when Klaus pouted and folded his hands in front of his chest petulantly. She could swear that for a legendary terrifying menace that brought nightmares to thousands, sometimes he was just a spoiled man child throwing tantrums.

Caroline however knew that even though Klaus hated to admit it he was growing fonder of people than he would care to admit, even though she was also sure that he hated people that did not fit his notion of artistic integrity when it came to the art projects he was choosing to consume and admire.

"Cancellation might be better than this travesty," Klaus muttered annoyed.

* * *

The wind howled and the chanting became louder. The shine of the blade reflected in its luminance the moonlight cast above the ritualistic altar.

"Is this a death ritual to your honor?" Caroline yawped horrified and Klaus's body shook as a fit of uncontrollable laughter took over him. His eyes had an amused glint in the blackness of the night. He wondered if he suspended his touch over the virgin they were sacrificing in his name and then make it appear as if she was resurrected how many of these human morons would actually have a heart attack and die on the spot. That would definitely be funny.

"Imbeciles," Klaus chortled and stumbled forward when Caroline pushed him. He turned around and looked at her bemused but Caroline only pointed towards the pentagram and the hooded creepers.

"Go on! Touch them!" She angrily demanded and Klaus stared back at her taken aback.

"Really?" he chuckled unable to hide the tint of intrigue in his voice. Defying the natural order with Caroline's blessing was something extremely rare if not impossible.

"Yes. _Them_ you can take!" she mumbled with a disgusted tone and Klaus' face changed to a sardonic mask. He gave her a side along glance full of sarcasm.

"Ah, them I can take," he imitated her voice mockingly and Caroline folded her hands in front of her chest in indignation.

"You did not seem to mind all those pagan shrines in your name in the old days. Why can't I have nice things?" Klaus protested with a sullen tone and Caroline face palmed.

* * *

The dust settled down slowly showing all the corpses that were torn to pieces. Undefined remains of people that had lives and a future and so many dreams that came to an abrupt end. The gunfire had stopped but the explosions outside the ruins kept spreading death. Blood had splatted everywhere. On the stones and the broken walls. It ran warm and Caroline scrunched up her nose. Her bare feet touched the crimson color and she curled her toes into the warmth of it almost basking at the grotesque sensation. She could feel the blood starting to cool and energy escaping from every cell of the dead bodies.

She turned her head to the side, her eyes cast downwards. She felt his presence long before he revealed himself to her. Klaus always relished in the thrill of such massive destructions. He always watched them unfold like movies and he was always there to collect his due.

The particles of dust that were locked to the fade sunlight rays materialized and gave him form. He stood behind her. Way too close for her liking and his gaze roamed first on her form and then on the death around them.

"That's the spirit," he whispered in her ear, leaning closer to her while watching their surroundings with an impressed look.

The kind of depravity that lingered in his eyes was why he had gained such a reputation. Some called him the demon, the devil. The angel of death. The grim reaper. Thanatos. Death incarnate. A Monster. Nothing but a Hybrid of dread and horror.

Klaus hovered through time between boredom and inevitability. He never interfered with free will but many times he intersected reality and planted seeds of discord and chaos. He threw humans to the hounds of insanity and waited for them to be torn apart and give him more death to devour. He was just as much fair as he was unfair. He did not care to come too soon or too late and he had a penchant for the aftermath of pandemonium. She might have been the Original Sin that gave birth to Life but he was always the Keeper of the Gardens and also the Snake in the Apple tree.

There were times like this one where Caroline could feel him in her bones. He despised the fact that he could not create life as she did because he wanted the power and yet he would never shy away from his gifts. His palate was full of all the desires that shone brighter than ever because none was as powerful as the one that came to an end. Like a fallen star that burns and explodes before it fades away and not even she could give life to such a rarity.

"Why did you have to let it get so bloody this time?" Caroline questioned him even though she shouldn't. The cadence of her voice was barely above a hushed sound. It was not as much an accusation as it was a jaded question full of intrigue. She knew that he could have made this quick if he wanted but he toyed with his prey this time depriving them the sweet release of death.

He did it to get her attention and she wanted to know the reason.

Klaus smiled contently. He prowled in circles around her carelessly stepping over the severed limbs.

"I like the color," he admitted coming impossibly closer, "It reminds me of…"

He stopped his phrase and Caroline's eyes filled with caution as his fingertip grazed the outline of her bottom lip. Desire scorched inside her and she knew. The truth flared between them. He wanted to hunt her down. He wanted to take her in. He wanted to lay her to the bloody ground amidst the shrine of her creation's remains and suck in all she had to give.

And he was the only one who could and maybe she wanted him to. But not today. She would not allow him to take more than his fill. At least not before she would be ready to give.

Caroline swatted his hand away but Klaus' caught her wrist in midair before she could withdraw it and escape him. Caroline pressed her lips and yanked her hand back but Klaus pulled her closer to him. His fingers locked around her flesh and bone and dug into her skin. It was a power struggle and Caroline looked into his eyes and lost her breath. A part of her was so envious of him. She would never get to experience the thrill of the killing. She couldn't. She could only create and she wanted to touch him now and feel through him how the end felt. She pushed her hand forward and Klaus' eyes narrowed. He tried to stop her for a moment as he was full of doubt when it came to her intentions but her fingers reached for his cheek. A soothing touch that made him swallow down all the decaying energy around them much faster than he should. It drove him wild. It made the adrenaline between them bounce back and forth.

Klaus came closer and his lips touched hers. She opened her mouth and sighed and his tongue barely caressed her teeth.

"Such an illusion," he muttered over her lips and Caroline's breath hitched as he claimed her mouth with fervor. Everything stilled around them. All became motionless and stagnant except them.

His grip around her wrist softened and Caroline intertwined her fingers with his. Klaus groaned when her nails skinned him. She drew blood.

"Your lips are so soft but you are not," he laughed and let her go. Caroline gave him a wicked look but the pounding of her heart did not stop reverbing around them.

Klaus took a step back and the seconds of time started moving forward again.

"Why did I let it get so bloody?" he repeated her question, his eyes roving over her ravished lips.

"For you. Because of you. It was all for you," he purred, reminding her that he was her counterpart and Caroline gasped when he abruptly caught her hand and swirled her around. Her back crashed against his chest.

He moved her hair to the side and his lips slowly sucked the vein that pulsated on her neck. She closed her eyes biting back a moan.

"Come on love. Don't pretend you don't also relish in the sight of blood," Klaus drawled and Caroline squeezed her eyes refusing to watch the bloody sight around them any longer.

"When have I ever?" she panted when Klaus' hands gripped her hips.

His laughter sounded so cold.

"How do the mortals call birth…ah yes…the miracle of… _life_ ," he reminded her and Caroline opened her eyes slowly.

"And it all starts with pain and…. _blood_."

His words full of honey and poison broke her. Her resolve shuttered. His voice burned her senses more than his touch.

"You were the one that made me crave blood in the first place," he cursed her and Caroline turned around and stared up at him. She forcibly removed his hands from her body and stepped back.

"That's a _lie_ ," she angrily refused as her desire turned to aggravated frustration. It turned to hurt. All the selfish parts of hers and the darkest of her desires reflected in him. His existence was only but proof of what she truly was and that was one of the things she would never forgive of him. This is why the pull and push between then was eternal. They walked hand to hand but she would always fight against him. It was in her nature. She would not exist otherwise.

"Who's lying now?" Klaus remarked and Caroline tilted her chin up.

"You've gotten addicted to me, Klaus, haven't you? The more I give, the more blood you take and then even more you want," she provoked him and his eyes glittered dangerously.

It was true. The more she created the more powerful she became and the more she made him crave annihilation. He wanted to destroy her as much as he wanted to balance her. He wanted to have her and protect her as much as he wanted to banish and bury her. She brought the light out of him as much as she brought out the darkness. Both parts equally existing in them both and yet it was her name that was revered with false hope and delusion and praised for goodness when in reality she was nothing but a vengeful bloody resemblance of a Goddess.

"Blood brings life. _Is_ life," he taunted, "It is _your_ color. It runs in the veins and thrums your essence. It spills and brings pain and pain is only a reminder of being alive. _You,_ sweetheart, linger on pain and you relish on an ocean of blood. It flows in your name even more so than it does in mine and you accuse me for liking its taste?" he simply asked but the shadow that passed through Caroline's eyes did not last long.

She threw her head back and laughed. She walked past him and she turned her attention to one of the unconscious bodies on the floor. She focused on the faintest glimmer of life that still lingered.

"Such manipulation. So many tricks," she singsonged, "and all so to make me believe that I have a… _death wish_ ," she chirped and a tremor passed through Klaus. Caroline lifted up an elegant eyebrow at him before she crouched down to the ground.

Klaus convulsed and stumbled back as Caroline's grace flowed from her gentle touch to the man on the ground that suddenly gasped. The mortal opened his eyes and blood poured out of his mouth. His lungs drew breath and life gripped him in its embrace. His pain was unholy but death could not touch him.

Caroline turned her attention back to Klaus.

"He is bleeding you see," she pointed out and swirled her finger on to a drop of blood, "but survivors always do," she said resolutely and Klaus shook his head.

"He will still die. One day," he shrugged pretending to not care for her victory against him in this defining moment and Caroline smiled, satisfied.

"But not _today_ and when he does he will still know that he has defeated you," she concluded with pride and Klaus' lips curved to a hard line.

"Winning a battle does not win the war," he rejected her delusional gloating and Caroline got up. She brought the bloody finger to her lips and her tongue licked the blood slowly.

"Sometimes it is the battle that makes all the difference despite the conclusion of the war that keeps raging on. And you have lost so many, Klaus. Look around you. All this struggle is because everything that exists wants to live and that means you have not won the war. You have only collected corpses and nothing more. You will _never_ gain more," she cynically scorned him and the tantalizing rejection in her voice told him that she meant that he would never gain… _her._

And then it was the change in the color of his eyes that made Caroline take a step back. His eyes filled with death and darkness and a whirlwind of colors surrounded them both and the next thing Caroline felt was the mattress that was pressed against her had pinned her on the luscious duvet and her heart fluttered in her chest. Skin to skin contact was setting her insides on fire and that fire bloomed and made the whole universe oscillate and stall it's movements. There was no more expansion. There was no more time. Space swallowed everything but them.

Caroline rolled her eyes as she saw from the open window the lights of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées fading in the distance. The extravagance of her favorite hotel lavish room was such a contrast to where they had been standing just seconds ago. The war of the mortals was now far away but theirs had just begun and it raged in the touch and the way Klaus' fury was manipulating her need for connection and sexual release. He pressed his body to hers and when she tried to move, his lips lingered above hers and she stopped struggling. The kiss of death was the last thing she needed right now, even though she hated to admit that she wanted it. It was part of her darkest desires and she could not deny it. No matter how strong the pull between them was, however, the only thing she knew how to do was push back. She could not give in.

The soft hum that warmed her cheek made every part of her tingle. Klaus was seducing her with all the energy he could give her. All the energy she could recycle into new life forms. He had brought her to one of the places she loved. Paris had been one of his promises a long time ago when France was not even created yet but their eyes could see far into the future through the patterns of relativity. Caroline had mocked him back then telling him that he would have to do better than promise her to take her to places she could go on her own and yet she had not stepped into Paris until the day he invited her to go together and it was not something he did not miss. Nor she did not miss this particular room where years ago they had entered with champagne flutes at hand and danced, not caring about how their touch would make the world stop spinning.

"I want my blood to be cold but you want it warm and hot don't you love?"

His teeth found the edge of her lips and her skin throbbed and her heart turned over. Her blood was burning. All the blood he shed was now part of her. Centuries of desire were coming alive now. His hold tightened around her wrists and she interlaced her fingers between his and squeezed them hard. She knew she had to get out fast but he was refusing to allow her to escape.

"You enjoy carnage as much as I do if not more."

Every tempting whisper was bringing forth a confession she did not want to wake in her.

"Had you not, you would not be so harsh and cruel to your very core. And you are, aren't you? You only give but a glimpse of life. Your gift is not eternal and your love is not either. It gives you more power. It makes you strong, powerful, ageless and where you are fearless everyone else is weak and… mortal. Can you deny your nature that breeds seas of blood?" The words he spat cut deep. Caroline was trying to keep her own emotions at bay but Klaus carried in his fingertips all the regret of words unspoken in lifetimes that went by unlived. He carried iron and dust in his fingers and it ran on her skin like silk, carrying every memory of the lost heartbeats in time. Ephemeral and nothing but just dreams. Dreams she wanted to live.

He let go of her hands and daringly she was the one who tried to refuse to let him go now. His mouth found the pulse that beat frantically in her neck. His lips bruised and the high she had felt in the battlefield was now an elusive emotion as another one far more untamed and wild seemed to be gripping her in its clutches.

Klaus traced the veins of her wrists and neck with his cold fingers and the contact sparked electricity and warmth and made his flesh warm and hot. His eyes widened when his own pulse surged back to life. His eyes turned golden and the blackness dissipated. His heartbeat pumped blood and Caroline knew that disaster was bound to strike in the world now. She could not help it, but she did not care. Every heartbeat of hers was a new birth and every breath of his was a death. And she wanted nothing more than to let go.

Klaus was right. This was her nature. She bred life and she bred blood and she bred all the components of love and passion but immortality was only hers. In truth for mortals she was a spark of a beginning and then she was nothing but death row. A walk in the valley before the execution. Klaus was only the executioner and in a way she was the killer and she knew how to kill. Not directly but the result remained the same.

His stubble scrapped her soft skin and she could not help but push her fingers into his hair and crash her lips upon his own. She breathed life into him and he poured death into her. She heaved and tried to catch her breath when he buried his head into the hollow of her shoulder.

"What do you claim to be? Mercy? Glory? The wise truth when you are only the… _beautiful lie_. What are you Caroline? Alive. A word so small that carries more than just five letters. So big and infinite. All the worlds but words to your altar," he moaned and his thumbs started caressing her skin. The silk and the light were unclad from her body like thin cloth.

Every word that Klaus spoke enveloped her like fire. Every word made her vibrate. New creatures were already stirring from the depths of worlds that were about to come to life from suns that have not burned yet.

"Tempestuous, glorious, heartless," his whispers were sweet nothings against her ear but the fervent accent that carried them left her breathless, "vengeful, brutal, excruciating," Klaus continued, and she was spellbound by the husky cadence of his voice on her skin, "unkind, vicious, sinful," he articulated slowly mesmerized by the sensual change in her. It captivated him as she wrapped her long legs around his waist crashing her body on his, "but most of all, before all and above all you are… _bloodthirsty_."

Wisps of longing weaved a shimmering cocoon all around them. Their bodies now naked and vulnerable embraced each other and felt the need to explode and come undone. Caroline held on to Klaus and darkness engulfed them. A strangely intimate black hole that sucked everything in, ready to tear them into pieces. It was death and she was giving in. It was life and light that was about to explode and burn everything. It pulled them in. Gravity was catching them in its thrall.

Caroline wanted to move. To take him in. The ache that was born deep inside was overwhelming but this blossoming firestorm was racing too fast and it was not forgiving.

"We can't do this," Caroline rasped through swollen lips and heavy eyelids. She was slipping away and starting to feel human under his touch. She felt as if she had a mortal body, sensitive to the touch. She was coming truly alive and she felt hurt and lust and everything around them spin in fluid motion. The distance between them was dying. Klaus held her close,r refusing to let her go.

And Caroline realized all the lengths Klaus was ready to go to get to have a chance with her. To relish in a moment like this. In all the ways he was always trying to keep up with her throughout space and time. To catch her. To suspend time between them and to have her break all around him and take him in.

How ironic it was for Death to worship Life like this. With fervent devotion and constant yearning. And it was all worth it that much Caroline knew. It was electrifying. And now she felt as if she was dying in his hands. Every ache she harbored in was rushing out and she wanted him.

She felt his bones shutter. She felt his skin dissolve. She felt his mortality and she felt his grief and his pain and she welcomed it all in.

"We could, if you accepted me. All of me. _Us_. As one. Time would burn again in our touch," Klaus pleadingly promised and Caroline considered it and then her kiss began softly. Like the wings of a butterfly flapping and then it turned all to chaos. Her savagery made him clench around her and she made him bleed as she bit down on his lower lip hard, drawing his death in her blood. Enough to bring acid into her bloodstream and use it against him in a burst of life that disoriented him and made his hold on her loosen.

Her nails scratched the nape of his neck and brought him closer to her as a painful moan escaped his lips. He was vulnerable at last and the only one thing could hurt him was her. Always her.

She pulled her lips away and licked the drop of blood from his torn lip. Her eyes turned hard.

"How can I when I am a beautiful lie and all blood?" she mocked him and Klaus held his breath in until it stilled once more. Life escaped him.

Time started counting minutes again. Their carnal connection broke and she could see his heart shutter before her eyes but she hid her own ache away from his scrutiny.

Caroline smirked. The transformation was instant and Klaus was bewildered to see the wickedness she was always trying to hide from him and from the world and he only wanted her more because of it. There was nothing good in her expression now and it brought him to his knees. The only thing that would set him free now was to take in thousands. Thousands of lives. Thousands of corpses and thousands of bones all to turn to dust. And yet, Caroline only smiled and gave in to his death by creating more life with just one taunting smile.

Who was fool enough to ever claim that life was ever nice? And when she left him alone in the room, all he could think was how empty it was without her. The room and him.

* * *

Caroline giggled like a little girl when she unwrapped the ribbon from the black box and opened the lid. She gasped. Inside gauzy thin paper and blue silk the dark color of blood had been transformed in an elegant gown. Made of draping flowing silk and light translucent chiffon, adorned with rhinestone crystals subtly embellished on the bodice, hem and tail of the dress, they reflected in their depths all colors and cast in every direction an agglomeration of faint and bright colors.

Caroline gaped openmouthed and her hand moved of its own will and she gently touched the airy material and then she withdrew her fingers feeling breathless and lost in an oddly comforting and baffling sense of bewilderment. Who knew death had such exquisite taste after all?

She picked up the beautiful diamond studded pencil heel sandals and noticed the black envelope that lay on the side in the box. She carefully broke the red seal and opened the envelope, revealing an old fashioned ivory stationary invitation.

" _All your colors and shades have always been red._

_Save me a seat. Fondly Klaus."_

Caroline could not help but smile at the sight of Klaus' calligraphy. She put down the shoes and went towards the windows that led to the stone balcony with the old ornamental iron railings. The sunlight of Vienna bloomed in her hair that was swept by the light breeze and Caroline bit her lip as she reread Klaus' message.

" _All your colors and shades have always been red."_

Caroline reached for her wine on the small table and let its flavor explode in her mouth before she closed her eyes and saw black waters under the moonlight and felt strong cold wind that was rising to a storm.

The feeling of the dawn under the Austrian sky contrasted with the sensation she felt surrounding Klaus as he stood in the one of the reefs of the Great Blue Hole near Belize. One of the most enigmatic and mysterious places Klaus liked to duel in ever since the decline of the Maya civilization.

" _Are your colors white or black Klaus?"_ she whispered in the wind as her body stood on the balcony but her mind travelled miles away through the Atlantic Ocean thinking of how the absence of color suited all the shades of the visible spectrum. She felt Klaus smirk as he pushed his hands inside the pockets of his leather coat.

" _What do you think?"_ Klaus voice rang in her ears as if he was leaning next to her and not standing endless miles away in the sea hole he loved to admire.

They both knew the answer to her question. She was made of red and agony and he was made of white and silence. If anything he was far more merciful in the end than she ever could be in her restlessness.

Everyone considered death to be only black but he was not. He was bright and luminous and a light at the end of the tunnel, filled with peace and serenity and her red only paved his way, dissolving and swirling the icy white of blood cells that slowly died, giving their energy to new life forms.

Many called death the sight of the crow. They were wrong. His wings were of the dove while hers would always be red. Like the ones of a phoenix.

Caroline opened her eyes and kept drinking her wine while also glancing back at the box with the dress inside her hotel room.

It would be hours later when night would fall that they would walk in the Vienna State Opera House. Caroline's hand resting on Klaus' elbow. Him dressed in his tailored three piece suit with his crisp _white_ shirt and she dressed in the magnificent _red_ gown, wearing on her neck and in her ears the diamonds he gifted her centuries ago. They would go and drink champagne in their box and watch Norma.

* * *

The water in the bathtub was painted red and the body slipped into the crimson ripples slowly letting go and falling into the abyss as Klaus sauntered forward and touched the tepid water. The last bubbles of air rose to the surface and then the waters stilled.

"I can't believe it," Caroline breathed out and stood behind Klaus with a look of untold melancholy and pity and yet a part of her did not duel in sorrow but in disgust. Her nerves twisted and she flexed her arms in despair. There were people with broken hearts that denied her gift and that both saddened her and enraged her at once. A circle of grief and an end before its time made her furious, leaving her with a feeling of helplessness to which she was not accustomed.

Klaus crouched down, looking at the shadow of the naked body's figure with the slit wrists underneath the water. He was almost transfixed and his fingers moved in the bloody water before he took out his hand and shook the water off with an indifferent sigh.

"You were wrong sweetheart. Not _everyone_ wants to live."

"Such a waste," Caroline mumbled, disappointed. No matter how much she prevailed in the end there were always those that threw away her gift willingly. And there were more than she would like to admit. If only they knew how they belonged to this world? How their birth was not coincidental. How billions of years and stardust conspired to bring forth their creation. In truth they were created long before they were born. Maybe then they would understand that they originated from chaos and brought consciousness to the silence and that they were as old as the universe was. As old as _she_ was. Maybe then they would not feel as if they did not belong and as if life had no meaning.

* * *

The paleness of death had already taken hold over the elderly man that lay boneless on the bed with his daughter holding his hand. His grey wrinkled skin was fragile but his eyes still shone with the faintest sparkle of life. He was still holding on to life from the last painful thin thread and he wanted to break it at last.

Giovanni Miller's dried lips were stained with blood. His nails were black as were his lungs underneath his thin ribcage. The man slowly pushed away from his face the oxygen mask and sighed. He had lingered to long in this life and in this broken body more than he should. It was his time and he was ready to go and yet his torture was prolonged for endless days.

His tired eyes focused on the hands of the clock on the wall against his hospital bed and he frowned as the clock stopped. Every sound got muffled and distorted. The sound of the man's breathing and of the bleeping of the machine that kept counting his heart rate and vitals seemed to be drowned in an unholy silence. Everything around Giovanni Miller seemed to still and his pain momentarily dissipated. The heaviness he felt for days over his chest was lifted and he turned around and looked at his daughter who had fallen asleep next to him holding his hand. He opened him mouth to say something and he froze realizing that his daughter was not breathing.

He tried to scream when a figure broke free from the bleak shadow that appeared at the door.

"She will be fine," a grim voice broke the silence assuring him and Giovanni's heartbeat rose and for some reason the old man knew beyond any doubt that these were the last beats that his old heart was going to ever give.

The voice turned to a tangible shape and the man had to squint his eyes and adjust his sight and soon enough the figure of a man approached him with slow steps that seemed to create vibrations inside the still room. Yet his daughter remained frozen and the minutes of the clock were suspended in time.

"Not everyone has the sight," Klaus simply said as he prowled to the other side of the bed and clasped his hands in front of him looking down at the old man that watched him with a stare full of awe before his eyes filled with relief. The man realized by instinct that Klaus' presence meant only one thing.

"Is it time?" Giovanni asked and Klaus nodded seriously.

"Yes," Klaus also gave voice to his nod with a grave expression that did not deter the soft smile that appeared in the edges of the lips of the dying man. Instead the man found solace at caressing the hair of his sleeping daughter for the last time.

The atmosphere got even heavier as Klaus allowed his aura to envelop the man and nothing could now interrupt what was coming.

"Don't be afraid," Klaus advised the man as he extended his hand towards him. One touch would be enough. But what came next made Klaus stop his movement.

" _Afraid_ ," the man croaked and the sound of his laughter intrigued Klaus, "Of death? God no," Giovanni chuckled between his coughing. There was no disrespect in his voice or fear which gained Klaus' attention even more. "I lived a full life," the man smiled and Klaus smiled back and exchanged a gaze of respect with the mortal. Indeed the man in front of him had no regrets and this was one of the reasons why he could see him now. Not many mortals were able to come to terms with their end and accept it peacefully with no grief or sorrow. But those that did, invited him in their end as they would invite an old friend.

"Ask me to grant you one more day and I will," Klaus promised the man; ready to give that gift only to those that not only respected him but also accepted him with no fear. To the mortals that did not put a struggle and embraced him with their hearts. With no fear. With no pain. Only with acceptance. To these mortals he always bestowed his favor and carried their souls with hands of grace. Klaus inhaled and absorbed the delightful stench of the death that was coming from the man's body and soon enough all the pain in the room broke into euphoria and the man breathed with no pain after a long time.

"Why would I want that?" Giovanni asked while still caressing his daughter's hair for the last time.

"Everyone wants life. Or at least to prolong the short journey of the life they got," Klaus noted mirthfully and with a hint of begrudging in his tone but Giovanni only shook his head.

"I will finally sleep," he accepted his fate and Klaus looked at him with surprise and then the room filled with light that dimmed the grey colors Klaus always carried with him. Caroline stepped closer to Klaus and stood by his side. She could not help but be drawn to this room. A full life well lived was something that also paid homage to her name too. The man looked at Caroline's vision with admiration.

"Maybe I can grand him another gift," Caroline said but waited for Klaus permission. Klaus dipped his head in inclination and Caroline sat at the edge of the bed on the white sheets next to the man and looked at Klaus with a knowing look before she reached for the Giovanni's hand that rested on his daughter's head. Caroline touched both father and child and she smiled with what she saw.

She then squeezed the man's hand and Giovanni smiled as tears fell from his eyes. Through Caroline's touch his eyes were filled with a connection to life that only Caroline could give him. He saw so many children. The children of his children. The grandchildren of his grandchildren. The last sight of genuine beauty he got from life was in his death and it was filled with so much life. Life that continued from him and through him in the same way he came to life from those that were born and died before him.

Caroline smiled sweetly and so did Klaus. He touched the man's forehead. The man left his last breath happy and relieved. Klaus locked his gaze with Caroline when she held his hand in her own and led him away from the room leaving, Giovanni's daughter to mourn in peace.

* * *

One more sun was dying in burning fire and thousands of stars were born beneath Caroline's eyes as the waters of the Black Sea licked her feet. Caroline was so overwhelmed she was reaching her breaking point. Every breath she heaved right now was creating black holes far away in the universe – holes that expanded with her every movement big or slow, fervent or languid - swallowing everything and regenerating more energy for her to recycle. It was too much. Too much energy. Too much aura. And yet she could not stop. She needed more. She wanted more. She couldn't take more but she couldn't give less.

"You are exhausting yourself, sweetheart," Klaus warned her as he tried to balance out her hunger. Life always wanted freedom and Death always tried to contain it and this time was no different. So Klaus wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her deep into the dark waters of the sea. The coldness engulfed them both as they dove and sank to the deep oceans where all life hid its secrets far from the prying curiosity of the mortals.

Caroline moaned and Klaus fingers dug into her shoulders. His lips latched on the curve of her neck and he took some of the tension away. She was like a narcotic and he was like a pain reliever.

"Let me help you love. Let me help you relax," he enticed her as infinity unraveled between them, creating ripples around them that would end in fearsome undercurrent waves. Caroline became more alive and ablaze with desire. She moaned and leaned back at his hands. His slow massage and his lips that were a warm caress against her skin made her give in to him. There were times like this that all the repetitive motion of her existence throughout endless eons made her feel hollow and dead inside and the only thing that was able to bring her back to life was Klaus. The greatest irony of life.

Caroline always kept feeding from all the energy that came after death and she always used it to recycle life forms and in return Klaus fed from the direct energy of the dead but also never forgot to set his eyes on everything that was born and belonged to him in the long run. In his eyes even _she_ belonged to him and everything that was alive sooner or later would join his city of the dead and everything was already nothing but a fading memory in his eyes. And Caroline could not deny that his touch and his promise was intoxicating but despite his best efforts she craved her freedom more. She wanted to thrive and to give him more to caress and to make the circle spin again endlessly between them, because the moment she stopped wanting to break free from him, would be the moment where she would lose him forever.

Caroline turned around and her lips softly touched his and both of them existed in that moment in baby nurseries in hospital wings and in funeral homes. In cemeteries and in children's parks. Both of them were the birth of a star and the death of it and both of them in their crescendo burned bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by the quote:
> 
> ¨¨Life asked Death "Why do people love me, but hate you?"
> 
> Death responded "Because you are a beautiful lie, and I'm a painful truth." ¨¨
> 
> \- Author Unknown.


End file.
